Rumor: Netflix coming to Xbox 360 and PS3?
Posted by Brian Vaughn at 2/13/2008 12:07 PM 
Categories: Xbox 360, Rumors, Netflix, PS3, Microsoft, Xbox Live Marketplace, Movies, Gaming
Categories: Xbox 360, Rumors, Netflix, PS3, Microsoft, Xbox Live Marketplace, Movies, Gaming
It seems that Netflix has been sending out a questionnaire asking select customers if they would be interested in streaming movies and TV shows directly to their game consoles. There is even reference to a "special Netflix" game disk you would place into your console. There is a $3 charge for the disk but that's all. I'm assuming you'd already have to be a Netflix member to use the service.
Now in theory this would be very cool to have. I'd love to be able to stream HD movies from Netflix. Now here's the kicker...why would I stream a DVD quality movie when I can download a HD quality movie? Most new movies are ending up on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace (XBLM) so why wouldn't I just download an HD version? Or rent an HD version from Netflix? HD movies really do look really good and I'm not willing to watch a standard def movie if I can watch an HD version. Netflix is not offering HD streaming from their site and Microsoft has stated that streaming in HD takes too much bandwidth. Their current Inside Xbox videos are all recorded in HD but streamed in SD because of bandwidth issues.
This service seems better placed on the PS3 since that game console does not offer an movie download service. The PS3 also has an open online structure so Netflix could use their own servers to host the service. Microsoft owns the servers for Xbox Live and they do not allow other companies to patch into their network (except for EA). Microsoft's current model competes against Netflix so I doubt Microsoft will allow a competing service to jump aboard and take away their sales.
Maybe Netflix and Microsoft could form an online partnership to offer a wider variety of downloads. The streaming service would be limited to SD content so it would not affect the HD download of movies from their XBLM. Still Microsoft's current model is better suited to their customer base since most Xbox 360 owners have HDTVs. This move has been discussed before and I really don't see it happening on the Xbox 360.
engadget: netflix-coming-to-xbox-360-and-ps3
Now in theory this would be very cool to have. I'd love to be able to stream HD movies from Netflix. Now here's the kicker...why would I stream a DVD quality movie when I can download a HD quality movie? Most new movies are ending up on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace (XBLM) so why wouldn't I just download an HD version? Or rent an HD version from Netflix? HD movies really do look really good and I'm not willing to watch a standard def movie if I can watch an HD version. Netflix is not offering HD streaming from their site and Microsoft has stated that streaming in HD takes too much bandwidth. Their current Inside Xbox videos are all recorded in HD but streamed in SD because of bandwidth issues.
This service seems better placed on the PS3 since that game console does not offer an movie download service. The PS3 also has an open online structure so Netflix could use their own servers to host the service. Microsoft owns the servers for Xbox Live and they do not allow other companies to patch into their network (except for EA). Microsoft's current model competes against Netflix so I doubt Microsoft will allow a competing service to jump aboard and take away their sales.
Maybe Netflix and Microsoft could form an online partnership to offer a wider variety of downloads. The streaming service would be limited to SD content so it would not affect the HD download of movies from their XBLM. Still Microsoft's current model is better suited to their customer base since most Xbox 360 owners have HDTVs. This move has been discussed before and I really don't see it happening on the Xbox 360.
engadget: netflix-coming-to-xbox-360-and-ps3
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